Pelagic bonanza!

January pelagic, Space Coast Bird & Wildlife Fest, FL

For those who don't turn green at the thought of riding a boat all day, a Pelagic trip is a fantastic opportunity to explore the seas for birds seldom seen from shore. Of course, passionate birders who don't have the best of "Sea Legs" always seem to join these cruises and usually pay a high price for this. You can usually recognize these folks by the 4 patches behind their ears, multiple wrist bands, and the way they nervously gnaw on saltines as the rock back and forth on the dock prior to boarding the boat. Invariably it seems these poor souls will get horribly sick before the boat gets too far from shore!

So far, I've shown a great resistance to "rail hugging" though and am always happy to have an opportunity to go offshore in search of wonders unseen. So when given the opportunity to be a leader aboard the Spacecoast Bird & Wildlife Festival annual pelagic, I gladly accepted. Especially in areas where pelagic trips are few and far between, the sense of anticipation can be quite high. You just never know what you might see.

immature Northern Gannet, 1/28/08 Florida

As soon as we cleared the breakwaters the boat was surrounded by gulls and Northern Gannets. Digiscoping was obviously not an option on a pitching deck, but many of the birds that came by were so close I was actually able to snap an image of them with my tiny 4x C-Lux 2 point & shoot. Northern Gannets were neither unexpected nor unusual though. The first surprise bird came as a 1st cycle Iceland Gull swung in from a nearby shrimper to investigate our boat. This is typically an unusual bird in FL, but there have been a number around this winter. Next we began seeing flocks of Red Phalaropes. The first group had near 12, then 4, followed by another group. No one knew for sure how significant this was at the start but all of us "Floridians" agreed we'd never seen Red Phalarope numbers like these (by the end of the day we would record a new high count for the state near 650 Red Phalaropes).

lines of Sargassum Weed at the edge of the gulfstream

We continued bravely on, tallying more Phalaropes and scanning diligently for signs of something different. After steaming out beyond 20 miles, our "something different" appeared. A dramatic color change in the water (turning a deep blue), signified the edge of the gulfstream. Where these currents met there was a near solid line of Sargassum weed floating, so we turned 90 degrees and begun running this little patch of habitat. Many more phalaropes and Bonaparte's Gulls were feeding here, and within minutes of making the turn our next significant bird was found.

"Sabine's Gull!...." The bird was directly in front of the boat working the nutrient rich rip marked by the floating mats of weeds and debris. Shortly after this we'd spot our first of three Audubon's Shearwaters. Both Pomarine & Parasitic Jaegers streamed by to boost the list even more! Since so few winter pelagic trips have been run many of these sightings proved significant. For example, this was the first winter record of of Sabine's Gull in FL, and one of only a handful of mid winter records for the US. Audubon's Shearwaters sightings were significant too.

Leatherback Sea Turtle 1/28/08

It wasn't all about birds though. Bonita were chasing bait at the surface in many spots, a Hammerhead Shark swam by, 3 individual "Ocean Sunfish" were seen lounging on their sides, and a Sailfish leapt out of the water shaking furiously. We also had many small cetaceans. Bottlenose Dolphins (common from shore) were not at all surprising, but we had nice views of bow-riding Pantropical Spotted Dolphins, and at least one other species that I now believe were Common Dolphins. Of course, the MOST significant observations were the Sea Turtle sightings!

Leatherback Sea Turtle swims under boat 1/28/08

Before long we began noticing large numbers of jellyfish. One of the guides suggested that a lot of jellies could mean Leatherback Sea Turtles, and as if summoned the 1st of 9 individual Leatherbacks was called from the bow. We would also have great views of 13 individual Loggerhead Sea Turtles, and at least 3 individual Green Sea Turtles. None on the boat could remember a better day for sighting Sea Turtles. It was a fabulous day with great folks!